Popocatepetl

Mexico

19.023°N, 98.622°W; summit elev. 5393 m

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)

CENAPRED reported that during 27 June-3 July meteorological weather conditions often prevented observations of Popocatépetl. Gas-and-steam emissions were detected by the seismic network probably occasionally contained ash. Incandescence from the crater was intermittently observed at night and accompanied emissions during June 30-1 July. Gas-and-steam plumes rose 0.5-2 km above the crater on 27 and 29 June. Gas-and-ash plumes rose 1-2.5 km above the crater during June 30-1 July. The Alert Level remained at Yellow Phase Three.

Geologic Background. Volcán Popocatépetl, whose name is the Aztec word for smoking mountain, rises 70 km SE of Mexico City to form North America's 2nd-highest volcano. The glacier-clad stratovolcano contains a steep-walled, 400 x 600 m wide crater. The generally symmetrical volcano is modified by the sharp-peaked Ventorrillo on the NW, a remnant of an earlier volcano. At least three previous major cones were destroyed by gravitational failure during the Pleistocene, producing massive debris-avalanche deposits covering broad areas to the south. The modern volcano was constructed south of the late-Pleistocene to Holocene El Fraile cone. Three major Plinian eruptions, the most recent of which took place about 800 CE, have occurred since the mid-Holocene, accompanied by pyroclastic flows and voluminous lahars that swept basins below the volcano. Frequent historical eruptions, first recorded in Aztec codices, have occurred since Pre-Columbian time.